Video Tour: Nashville's 16 Ton Studios in video and pictures

MusicRadar was in Nashville recently, and while there, we decided to drop by one of Music City's top-flight recording facilities, 16 Ton Studios.

In the last few months, Sheryl Crow recorded tracks for her upcoming record at 16 Ton, and over the years, the studio has played host to Sandi Thom; Black Crowes members Chris and Rich Robinson, along with Steve Gorman; Buddy Guy; Eddie Kramer; Reeves Gabrels; Robert Randolph And The Family Band; among many others.

Built by famed studio designer Michael Cronin, 16 Ton opened its doors in 2004 and is owned and managed by producer and writer Danny White. Over the course of a Saturday afternoon, White gave us a leisurely look around - we positively drooled over the one-of-a-kind,custom-built, tube-based Dymaxian 48 console. You can see it all in the video above and the gallery of photos.

A key feature at 16 Ton is the new, revolutionary CLASP (Closed Loop Analog Signal Processor) system, and during our stay, Chris Estes, CEO of Endless Analog and inventor CLASP, dropped by. In the video below, Estes explains how artists and producers can integrate analog tape into their digital production workflow (and save mega bucks in the process).

Sit back, check out the clips and feast your eyes on some truly marvellous gear. Despite the building's rather ominous facade (are there ravens lurking about?) it's all quite cozy inside, and the people are very nice indeed.

Tape Room

Which houses the Ampeg MM-1000 from Nashville's famed Columbia Studios. According to White, "If this thing were a jukebox, you'd hear George Jones, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan and a whole lot more. When Eddie Kramer was here a couple of months ago, he took a look at it and said he recorded the first Johnny Winter record on it."

Main Tracking Room - Columbia Studios talkback monitor

"We've got cool, long-silent relics from temples of sound scattered everywhere at 16 Ton," says White. "If you put your ear up this talkback monitor from Columbia Studios Nashville, you can hear Bob Dylan asking for one more pass at Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands."